Pitt football reignites the River City Rivalry against Cincinnati this Saturday, Sept. 9, 6:30 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium. The team revealed their uniform for the prime-time game, which will be shown on the CW Network in front of a national audience, that sticks to the basics for the most part.
The Panthers will go with traditional colors vs. the Bearcats. They’ll wear gold helmets with a royal blue Pitt script, royal blue jersey with gold numbers, gold pants and royal blue gloves. The jersey is a typical one that Pitt wears for many home games, especially since the colors changed back prior to the 2019 season.
This is the same uniform that Pitt football wore last game out against FCS opponent, Wofford, who they beat 45-7 in the home opener.
The Panthers and the Bearcats have faced off 12 total times, with the longest streak between the two teams occurring from 2005-12, when both teams competed in the Big East conference.
The rivalry is based on the fact that the two schools are similar in size, both along the Ohio River (hence the rivalry name) and that the professional sports teams in each city already are rivals. The Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates have had some great games against each other in baseball and the Cincinnati Bengals and Pittsburgh Steelers have a hatred for each other on the gridiron only seen in the AFC North division.
This rivalry game also has ties to Panthers head coach Pat Narduzzi, who served as the Bearcats defensive coordinator from 2004-06. Linebackers coach Ryan Manalac also played linebacker for Cincinnati in college and again for the Bengals in the NFL.
Pitt football took the first seven games of the series, including the first three in the Big East, but lost four of the past five matchups to Cincinnati before both teams left the conference.
The Panthers and Bearcats will meet again in the River City Rivalry next year in Cincinnati, but there are no future games scheduled beyond 2024.
